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Had she been a better driver, a woman accused of impersonating a registered nurse might still be tending to seniors at a long-term care facility in Mitchell.

Eva Donna Okello, 36, of Etobicoke, was stopped by Stratford city police last Saturday for a routine traffic infraction by an officer who "found something didn't seem right," Perth OPP Const. Kees Wijnands said Wednesday.

The Stratford officer was suspicious about her identification and Perth OPP was contacted when she said where she worked.

Okello was charged with personation after it was learned she had worked one shift at Ritz Lutheran Villa in Mitchell under the name of a registered nurse. Two further charges, of common nuisance for endangering life and trafficking in a controlled substance have since been added.

Okello is in custody and scheduled to appear in Stratford court Thursday.

Her arrest and charges came less than six months after she was sentenced to eight months in jail for identity theft and acting as a nurse without proper qualifications.

And that was her second conviction.

In 2005, the College of Nurses of Ontario prosecuted Okello as an illegal practitioner. At the time, she was convicted and fined $8,000.

Shortly after her jail sentence on Sept. 30, the College of Nurses said her penalty "should serve as a deterrent to others engaging in similar conduct."

The College urges those who hire nurses to check qualifications at Find A Nurse, an online service it operates at www.cno.org.

But Bob Petrushewsky, chief executive officer of Ritz Lutheran Villa, said he followed that advice.

"We did check," he said. "The name the person was working under was on the college website (as qualified)."

He said 84 residents live at the facility.

"As soon as we were made aware (of a problem), we contacted all the family members and then we checked all the residents to ensure that nobody's health was negatively impacted," he said.

Petrushewsky said the Ministry of Health has looked into the situation and his facility is also reviewing it.

Identity theft, he noted, is hard to detect.

"I don't think we can ever be 100% sure but what we are doing is reviewing to see if there are any gaps in our process," he said.

Wijnands at the OPP said the case illustrates the benefits of co-operation between police services.

"This shows what excellent communication we have with Stratford police," he said.

Personation

*The Criminal Code of Canada definition: "everyone commits an offence who fraudulently personates another person, living or dead;"